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everlastingcaptainswan · 4 years

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Contractual Attraction (10/?)

Enchanted Forest AU

Summary: The war had raged on for many years, the people of Misthaven would say too many, and there was only one way to end it, only one way to quiet talks of rebellion. Princess Emma of Misthaven would have to marry the enemy, Prince Killian of Montave.

Notes: Hope y’all are having a good week! Just a little more angst, but I promise good things are coming!

Ao3 FF

Chapter Ten: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The Royal Family had an early start the next morning with a tour of the village, an address to the people, and a dinner with the nearby lords and ladies. Personally, Emma would rather be on the battlefield again rather than do this. She loved seeing her people, but speaking to a crowd was not her favorite and the lords are about as exciting as toast. Not to mention she would have to spend the day with Killian and right now she wanted nothing to do with him. She was still furious with him. He never returned to the ball last night. Which she was fine with, he could go skulk and think about what he had done. Emma would have to play nice with him and put on a pretty face for everyone. To limit her exposure to him she took breakfast in her chambers that morning. After she dressed for the day in a simple white dress Leo came to fetch her,

“Are you hiding from him?” He asked in lieu of a greeting.

“No, not hiding. I didn’t really feel like seeing him. I’m already going to have to spend the day with him.” She rolled her eyes.

“If it’s any consolation he looked miserable at breakfast, maybe you should talk to him.” He shrugged.

“Are you defending him?” Emma almost stomped her foot, but restrained herself.

“Of course not, but he was blindsided, and you have to spend the rest of your life with him, are you going to be mad at him forever?” He sighed at his sister’s antics.

“I can certainly try,” she mumbled, placing the tiara on her head. It matched the one Leo was wearing, a solid gold band encircling his head. The only difference was hers had a simple diamond in the center. They left her room and began their descent down the stairs.

“He hasn’t even apologized to me yet.”

“Pretty hard to do when you hide from him.” He gave her a pointed look and Emma hated to admit it, but he was right.

“Just hear him out.” Leo shrugged.

“Why do you care so much?”

“If I kept my mouth shut this wouldn’t be happening and I don’t want the treaty in danger because of something I did.” Emma stopped on the stairs and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Oh Leo, no. Look, peace may have been fragile at first, but Killian needs this just as much as we do. I know him enough now to say he’s not going anywhere. We will work through this, but the treaty is fine.”

“How do you know that?”

“Killian saved my life on the ship, there was an accident. He could’ve let me die, let the treaty fall through. He didn’t. He cares as much as we do.” Leo nodded and they continued on.

Killian, Snow, and David were waiting for them at the bottom of the staircase. Emma desperately wanted to be angry at Killian, to be furious, but he looked apologetic and damn good in his regal red outfit. She was mad that he would doubt her and call her a liar. They both have things they haven’t been honest about.

Killian will never not be struck by her beauty. It could be an elaborate gown for a ball, her vest and pants on a ship, or a simple gown for a tour of the town. She’s beautiful in every situation.

He shouldn’t have blown up like he did last night. He was just so thrown off by it, it had completely blindsided him. Killian knew she was still mad with him, but now was not the time for his apologies. He nodded and held out his hand to her when she approached him. Emma nodded, but said nothing. She was definitely still upset with him.

Snow saw the interaction between the two and sent Leo and David ahead.

“You two need to act like you at least like each other.” Snow crossed her arms looking expectantly at each of them.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I don’t know what happened between you last night, but our people will not accept him if you don’t. Now, you have five minutes before the carriage leaves.” Snow glided out looking as graceful as ever. Emma turned to Killian. He looked a little bewildered by Snow’s blunt honesty.

“Love last night was a mistake. I’m sorry for how I acted. I felt like we had grown closer over the voyage and I felt betrayed. You were right we both have hidden truths and I shouldn’t have-” Emma squeezed his hand.

“I should have told you. Men don't exactly react well to being told they’ll never be in power. At first, I was afraid it would ruin the treaty. Now, I just-” She shook her head.

“I understand why you wouldn’t tell me; I can’t imagine suitors would like the idea. I’m not them, I’m not running away. You and I will be partners until the end.” He reached out and touched her face. He thought she would flinch away or worse hit him. She didn't, she gave him a soft smile.

“How would you like to see Misthaven?” Killian squeezed her hand.

“Show me your kingdom, love.” Killian gestured out in front of him, letting her lead the way.

They walked out to the carriages and Snow lifted her eyes at their linked hands. Emma gave a small nod. Killian and Emma shared a carriage to themselves and the rest of her family led the way through the village. While the people were ecstatic to see Emma and cheered for her, they seemed to fall silent and gave Killian weary looks, unsure of what to think of the foreign Prince. The whole time Emma plastered a smile on her face. She interlaced her fingers with his, their connected hands displayed for everyone to see.

Emma showed him all of the village surrounding the castle, her people with their works of artistry. From blacksmithing to jewelry makers. They toured the market full of the various crops of the kingdom, it was nothing compared to the market it the summer, but for winter it was a true accomplishment of her people.

Most of the people gave Killian a wide berth, not wanting to be close. A few were more open with their displeasure by glaring at Killian. He gave them no attention and was kind to every person he met, not that Emma expected any differently. She smiled at him often, her hand never far from his. She thought it would bother her, but it didn’t, not in the slightest. Today was about showing her people her acceptance of Killian, so they would accept him. Not only that Emma felt true ease and comfort around him that had been building for a while now.

They toured some of Misthaven’s countryside and gave Killian a chance to view Misthaven’s spectacular mountains. Overall Emma would’ve called today a success. However now the royal family has to host a dinner party for the lords and ladies of Misthaven. They wanted to get a sense of their soon to be king.

On their way to the Great Hall for dinner, Snow was stopped by Graham, who muttered something and gave her a note. They all waited outside the Great Hall while her eyes darted back and forth across the small page. Snow sighed and looked at Killian. Graham waited for further instruction.

“What is it? Is it Liam? Elsa? The babe?” Every terrible scenario running through his head. Emma wanted to reach out to him, to let him know she was there, but his hands were clenched into fists.

“They’re fine. The note is about your ship. It was stopped in the channel, by one of our few remaining ships. They apparently didn’t believe a naval ship would have the diplomatic papers we issued them, and your crew is currently being held. Graham send word to release the Prince’s crew and send the boat on its way. Make sure to relay to any of our other ships to not stop it.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Graham nodded, before running off to follow Snow’s orders.

“How could this happen?” Killian asked Snow, fear and anger evident in his stance.

“I can’t control everyone in my command, no matter how much I try. You led men; you understand all too well what I am talking about.” Killian nodded she was right he did indeed know all too well.

“Are my men alright?”

“No deaths, they surrendered. Everyone is fine, knowing Graham your ship should be here by next week.” Killian still looked like he had gotten terrible news. He simply nodded and wandered down the hall.

“What on earth is his problem?” David asked Emma, who just shook her head.

“I don’t know.” She frowned, looking after Killian.

“Find out, will you? We’ll entertain our guests until you return,” Snow sighed. Emma nodded and turned away from her family. She followed Killian down the hallway at a slow pace. She knew he needed time to cool down, she doesn’t understand what this meant to him, but it’s important.

Emma finally caught up to him in an alcove overlooking the palace grounds. Killian’s back is to her, his hands gripping the ledge of the windowsill.

“Killian.”

“If you’re here to drag me into that dinner, I can’t! This is bloody unbelievable; I can’t go out there and pretend everything is alright.” Killian let go of the windowsill, and clenched his fists. Emma could feel the anger emanating from him, she knew the anger wasn’t toward her. She reached out placing a hand on his arm.

“Then let’s go somewhere else.” Surprise crossed his face.

“What? Don’t we have to charm those lords and ladies at dinner with your parents and brother?” He shook his head in confusion. Emma took his hand and led him through a door that did not lead back to the great hall.

“We definitely do,” she snorted.

“Then, where the hell are we going?” Emma stopped and turned to look at him.

“Do you really think I am a perfect princess who always does as she’s told?” His face turned red and he scratched his ear, his nervous tick that she was growing to love.

“No, but what does that-” she began pulling him forward again. They went down another passageway, one that led to the stables.

“Stop worrying about the lords and ladies of Misthaven, they’ll live with our absence for today. Now, pick a horse.” Emma led him into the stable, finally letting go of his hand to tend to Buttercup. Killian stopped in front of a beautiful black Friesian horse.

“That’s Orion,” Emma said across the stables. Killian nodded while he prepared Orion, who took to Killian much better than Emma thought he would. They mounted their horses and Emma turned to Killian, “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, lass,” he smirked. She smiled and led the way. They moved swiftly through the grounds and the fields surrounding the castle.

They slowed when they reached the forest, maneuvering the horses through the dense trees. Emma dismounted Buttercup when they reached a beautiful lake with a waterfall. Without a word to him she walked toward the waterfall and for one moment he swore she disappeared into the cliffside. When he got closer, he saw her nestled in the cliffside in a nook that Emma was leaning against.

“I thought you disappeared in a mere blink of an eye,” he whispered, the waterfall roaring next to them.

“Can’t get rid of me that easily.” Emma has that mischievous glint in her eye that Killian is learning to love and hate at the same time.

“Good. What is this place?”

“One of my favorite hiding places. The waterfall is great to cool off in the summertime, right now it’s just beautiful to look at.”

“One of?”

“A rebellious princess needs many, don��t you know…” he chuckled at this, “Killian, I need to know the truth.” The laughter stopped and he swallowed, feeling his airway constricting.

“About?”

“Your ship. You looked absolutely panicked, way more than I would’ve suspected. Even when assured it would be resolved you couldn’t go to the dinner. So, if you’d like my help you need to tell me what’s going on.” She never broke eye contact with him, never blinking.

“It’s not simple.” Is all he can manage to get out. Her gaze is unwavering and relentless, never judgmental though.

“It never is.”

“This damned war nearly broke our people; it certainly broke our very limited farmers and trade. We relied heavily on fishing as an export and well we took those fishermen into war and soon there was very little to trade, we were trying to keep our people alive and fed. With each passing year it got worse and worse. We had trade agreements for a few years that helped, but other countries were so fearful of war and what it would do to their country, so they never held up,” he rambled on. Emma laid a hand on his chest.

“Killian! What does this have to do with your ship?” Her eyes searching his, looking for the answer he couldn’t seem to give her.

“My people need food, grain, seeds, whatever I can get them. Emma, they’ll die without it. I was going to send over some food and seeds to help the few farmers we have. My people need me, I can’t let them down.” She closed her eyes and cursed him. He might be smart on the sea and with strategy, but he had a long way to go when it came to diplomacy. She opened her eyes to find he had retreated slightly.

“Why didn’t you ask for a trade agreement in the treaty?”

“What?” His brow furrowed, not expecting that answer. Truly the thought hadn’t occurred to him or Liam.

“Killian, we aren’t heartless. We don't want your women and children to suffer, to starve. We would’ve made it work, just as we will now. Do you not trust me?”

“Love, I trust you more than anyone else in the realm right now. I have followed you into what used to be enemy territory, my life is quite literally in your hands.” With each word he moved closer to her and they were chest to chest, almost touching one another.

“But you couldn’t come to me for help?” she whispered, and he placed a hand on the cliffside.

“Not then. Not when peace was riding on every action and reaction.” He shook his head.

“What about now? Did you really think I wouldn’t help?” she asked him, her voice wavering, her hurt evident.

“I was afraid. Emma, please I trust you. Everyone is counting on me. This wasn’t about you, it was about my fear clouding my judgement,” he pleaded with her.

“I see, we should head back now. At least make an appearance for dessert.” Emma pushed past him, back to Buttercup.

“Of course,” he muttered after her. He worried that this truth had ruined everything building between them. They rode back in silence to the stables; Emma didn’t know what to say to him. She was beginning to trust him and now this.

“Love,” Killian started.

“Not your love,” she threw the words back at him. Killian flinched, he definitely deserved that.

“Emma, I shouldn’t have-”

“No, you shouldn’t have, but that’s not the point anymore. The point is your people need help. We’ll talk to my parents in the morning, figure out what we can do.”

“What if they aren’t inclined to help?”

“Doubtful that will happen, but then you and I will handle it ourselves.” Killian reached out for Emma’s hand, his fingers brushing hers. She moved out of his grasp, walking ahead. Killian sighed, throwing his head back.

Today had felt like a dream with her. Her smile and touches had sent him on cloud nine. Killian knew that some of it was manufactured for her people, but he couldn’t help but to revel in it. And now he feared he may never feel that again, may never feel that way with her.

Killian took a breath and followed Emma in ready to fake a smile for these people, who he didn’t give a damn about.

#cs #cs au #cs au fic #cs au ff #Captain Swan #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #captian swan #Enchanted Forest AU #enchanted forest #emma swan #killian jones #Princess!Emma #Prince!Killian #enemies to lovers #I hate you but I have to marry you

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highbuttonsports · 3 years

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Toronto Blue Jays’ Joe Carter 1993 toronto blue jays world series champions - Bing images

Our Team

Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some…well maybe not this season (hopefully though). For some of us, snow is still on the ground and the cool air of winter is still biting our breathe. However, that doesn’t mean baseball isn’t still warming our hearts and our minds. A lot of Jays fans can easily relate to this sentiment, especially those of us that reside north of the border. As “Canada’s team”, there is a strong sense of pride associated with touting that moniker. Toronto is the only franchise in the MLB that has the distinction of being their country of residence’s only one. It really fosters an us against them mentality. It’s a David vs. Goliath thing. A little brother vs. big brother thing. A Superman vs. Batman thing. You get the point.

There’s a long-standing history of the Canada vs. U.S. rivalry rooted in sport. Every December/January brings about the World Junior Championships for hockey with each country perennially battling for the gold medal (the U.S. took it home this past tournament). International women’s hockey has predominantly been a Canada/U.S. fight for top spot since it’s inception. As well, the Olympics has provided many instances of our countries’ amazing rivalry. There was Canadian track star Donovan Bailey’s beating of American Dennis Mitchell in the 100m race at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (in world record time no less). More recently, Canadian ice dance darlings Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue “got smoked” (Scott’s words) by U.S. rivals Meryl Davis and Charlie White at the 2014 games in Sochi. Then there is perhaps the best non-baseball example of this good-natured battle in the 2019 NBA Championship by the Toronto Raptors. That was the first NBA title to leave American soil and that wound is still fresh. In fact, many talking heads south of the border still refuse to give the Raps any credit for that win. The prefer to focus on all of Golden State’s excuses (classic sore loser behaviour). All of these are just a sample of the friendly yet heated rivalry that exists between our great nations.

When it comes to baseball that is no different. I am of a certain age to vividly remember everything about the Toronto Blue Jays’ historic rise to the top of the baseball world in 1992. It was the first time the World Series had been played outside of the U.S. in the history of the league. This is America’s past time we are talking about after all, so having a team from Canada trying to take that from them made it about more than just baseball. It’s not as if the Jays came out of nowhere though. They had won the American League Eastern Division title for the second consecutive season and third time in four years coming into the series. So, it was no fluke they were there threatening to take the title out of the U.S.A. for the first time ever. As well, Atlanta Braves brought that annoying swagger with them having lost in the World Series the previous year. They were hungry, a little cocky, and the favourites. After all, what were these guys playing out of a hockey country doing thinking they could be champions of the baseball world? Of course, this story could not be written without mentioning the Game 2 fiasco involving the Canadian flag. Before the game started, during the performance of the National Anthems of the United States and Canada, the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard accidentally flew the flag of Canada upside down. It was an accident and the Marines went out of their way to apologize while insisting they were honoured to carry it ahead of game 3. That doesn’t mean it didn’t add some extra vitriol to an already contentious battle between the two countries. It perhaps may have even sparked the Jays, as after losing game 1 they went on to win games 2,3, and 4 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Atlanta wasn’t going to just lay down though as they fought back in game 5 winning convincingly 7-2. This set up a dramatic game 6 back in Atlanta in front of 51,000+ chanting and chopping Braves fans. If you were a Jays fan back then like me that brutal Atlanta tradition was like nails on a chalk board. Game 6 was a back-and-forth tight pitching duel with the Braves tying the game up in the bottom of the 9th to stave off elimination. After both teams failed to score in the 10th, the Jays jumped out to a 4-2 lead on a Dave Winfield double plating 2 runners. That was the legendary Winfield's first career World Series extra-base hit, and at 41 he was the oldest player in baseball history to record one in the World Series. Atlanta caught a break in the bottom of the inning on a fortunate mid hop bounce to short, turning a sure double play into a 1st and 3rd with nobody out situation. After a sac bunt made it 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, a forced play at 1st on a ground ball scored a run reducing the Jays lead to 1. It was that moment that Atlanta announced the speedy Otis Nixon as a pinch hitter. He was one of the fastest players in the league and a fantastic bunter. Knowing this, Toronto countered with bringing in a right-handed pitcher. It is much easier for a righty to field of bunt towards 1st base since they fall off the mound naturally in that direction. Even though a bunt is not very common with a runner at 3rd and 2 out, with Nixon at the plate it was a big possibility. That’s exactly what happened too. Otis bunted, Timlin fielded the ball perfectly, and dished it to Carter at 1st for the final out. That secured the 1st World Series title in Blue Jays franchise history as well as the 1st title to leave the USA.

If that didn’t rile up American baseball aficionados enough, they definitely didn’t get any happier the following year. 1993 brought the Blue Jays back to the World Series to defend their title against the Philadelphia Phillies. This time Toronto meant business and they were the favourites. It was up to Philly to unseat the champs, but the Jays weren’t having any of that notion. They won game 1 of this go around to put themselves in the driver’s seat. The Phillies tied the series at 1-1 by winning game 2, but that was as close as they would get going forward. Even though they fought back with a shut out in game 5 to force another game, it was the battle tested Jays who finished the series off in epic fashion in game 6. This moment is engrained in all Canadians, not just baseball fans. As iconic as the Golden goal which says a lot for a bunch a hockey loving hosers. Just thinking about it again gives me goose bumps. Our boys were down 6-5 going into the bottom of the 9th with feared closer Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams coming into the game to try and push it to a deciding game 7. To say it started out terribly for him is an understatement. He walked future hall of famer (and still holder of the record for most stolen bases all time) Rickey Henderson to begin the inning. That put the heat on him to get the ball to the plate as quick as possible. In order to do that, Mitch used the slide step method. He had never used that move before in his career, but with the uber dangerous Henderson at first, he couldn’t risk giving up a stolen base. That caused him to be out of sync in his delivery and resulted in diminished velocity and control. After the next batter flew out, another future hall of famer in Paul Molitor singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out and Joe Carter coming to the dish. Queue the music everyone! That’s when Joe hooked a 2-2 pitch over the left corner wall for a back-to-back World Series winning 3-run homerun and forever immortalizing himself in baseball lore.

It doesn’t get much sweeter than that in sport. What makes those moments even bigger is the connotations of national pride and excellence. It’s no secret that the U.S. has a great reputation of success when it comes to sport. The country houses 4 of the 5 highest grossing sports leagues in the world while having a stranglehold on the media coverage. They are usually the favourites and have the hardware to back that up. That’s why whenever us simple snow-covered folks (up here North of the world’s longest unprotected border) have a chance to wave our flag or sing our Anthem in victory, we do it proudly and loudly. It’s what we hope to be doing later this fall when the 2021 Jays take the field with the highest hopes they have had in years. Not since a certain bat flip 6 years ago perhaps. But we don’t need to go there…do we?

By: Jaymee Kitchenham

#blue jays #toronto #toronto blue jays #baseball

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cianmarsfanfiction · 7 years

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Cherry Wine (1/?)

Set a couple of months after Emma and Killian get married, the marriage has completely devolved and Emma starts to realise she’s a victim of domestic abuse. She tries to break free to where she know’s she’s safe. Warning: Abuse of all kinds. Anti-CaptainSwan, Anti-Hook.

FF (X)

Emma didn’t notice the change.

It crept upon her like a monster creeping under the bed, the change happened upon the two of them in a synced dance for power, and slowly Emma lost everything whereas he gained all. She had been in love, she was in love, true love… wasn’t she?

~OUAT~

She heard the door slam, she wasn’t sure if it was the actual smell or the memory of it which made her knew that he smelt like a distillery, not just his alcohol of choice he was no longer fussy with liquor he would take any. She felt her heart quicken as he walked up the stairs, his boots slamming down hard on the wood, she wasn’t sure if he was just drunk or was angrily drunk.

She heard him calling her name as he got up the stairs.

“Mrs Jones.”

She pretended to be asleep.

~OUAT~

Emma stood in the kitchen making pancakes. It was something she was trying her hardest to learn, cooking, she had never excelled at it – her parents had tried to teach her when she had lived with them, she had never really excelled at it and had been known to be able to burn water. But she tried. She wanted to be able to do something to contribute to their household, Henry spent most of his time with his friends or at Regina’s so often she would just be alone in the house, turning down offers to see people became second nature to her

“I, erm… I thought that I might go to my parents’ house tomorrow.” She said pleasantly. She held her breath. The air as always was intoxicating, the smell of alcohol and her attempts at cooking, she could feel herself chocking on it, slowly.

“No.”

That was it, no explanation, Emma hadn’t realised she was asking permission, but apparently she was. “It’s just my mom invited me, and I haven’t seen her in ages, and I figured I could probably help my dad out on his farm, not that I know the first thing about farming… I know you’re busy with work and now neither he nor I are at the station I figured…-”

That was another thing she thought in the back of her mind he had slowly convinced her to give up the sheriff position, which had fallen to her deputy to fill. He had convinced her at first she needed some time off, to relax after all the craziness which had happened in her life over the past couple of years. He had been her knight in shining armour. That time off had slowly lengthened she had demoted herself to deputy when he pointed out that she was extremely rusty after her time off. She had taken herself off from work completely when he had announced to their, her, family at a dinner one day while smiling down at her little brother that they’d be trying for their own child soon enough. That had blind sighted Emma, they had toyed around with the idea to the extent that he had strongly encouraged her to talk to Henry about it,

“Aye, and I said no!” He shouted, he spilt some of the rum he was pouring into a hip flask and growled in frustration, he didn’t notice his wife cower as he did, even if he had seen would he care? Probably not, he wasn’t a morning person. He stood up and strode towards her. He towered over her and raised his hand to point towards her face, he didn’t miss her flinch that time, he just didn’t care. He pointed at her busted lip and the yellow and green fusion of a bruise which was fading around it. “You think I don’t know that you’re trying to push me away? What do you think Dave and Snow would say if they saw you like this? They wouldn’t understand! We’re not like them, we’re not heroes, we might have been once before you turned to the darkness and sucked me in with you…” He trailed off deliberately. He placed his hand on her cheek and held tight, forcing her to look at him. “They don’t get us, Emma Jones,” he smiled when he said her name, it had taken him so long to win her, “they don’t get that this was both of our fault.”

Emma found herself nodding her head. She gave him a smile which didn’t meet her eyes. He was right. “I know, I’m sorry, I won’t go. I love you.” But those three words sounded like a question. So, she pulled him into a kiss, it was always a good distraction technique, plus he had to get to work so the kiss wouldn’t be able to turn into anything else.

Killian finally pulled back with a smile, he hadn’t noticed that Emma hadn’t been the one to pull away out of fear, she had simply tried to outlast him, she hadn’t enjoyed it, but what did that have to do with him? He picked up her phone from the counter. “I’ll let your mother know you can’t make it, that you’re ill,” he used his hook to brush one of the purple bags under her eyes, “you should get some rest you look tired.”

He slipped the phone into his pocket and left with it.

It might have been an accident, he might have thought it was his cell phone, and he was simply going to ring her mother, he didn’t mean to leave with her phone. It could have been an accident.

It wasn’t.

~OUAT~

He had knocked her walls down, like a wrecking ball, he was so proud of that. But she felt as though she was locked in a tower, guarded by a fire breathing dragon, and there was no way out.

The next few weeks only got worse. He would go out and get drunk every night, if she was lucky he would spend the night with someone else, she didn’t even feel jealous or betrayed about that, it was a grateful respite. When he was there it was like she was walking on eggshells, she tried to keep the peace but it worked less and less.

He hadn’t given her the cell phone back, eventually her parents and friends stopped calling the house, they’d tried to pop around but Killian had changed the locks so that even her key wouldn’t be able to get her in from the outside, and she was too ashamed of the shell she had become to pick up the courage to open the door or to just run.

Even Regina wouldn’t have been able to get in, Emma had put up a spell when they had first moved in to stop other magic users from ever getting in, it was Killian’s idea – he was worried about their family’s safety, he had claimed. He had claimed the same when he gave her a bracelet, he had found it in the bottom of his trunk from his years exploring the realms, it did the same job as the magic cuffs. She had put it on easily when he had confessed he was worried about her, and his own health, and had reminded her what had happened with David and the street lamp a few months previously.

But apparently Killian was keeping them placated enough to not worry too much about Emma.

She could only assume that it was her parents’ natural instincts which made them worry about her, they posted notes through but assumed no one was home, Emma couldn’t bring herself to throw them away. So, she kept them. Seeing her name written on them, in her parent’s scrawls, made her feel more like herself for a fraction of a second at least, she wasn’t just ‘Mrs Jones’. She was Emma.

~OUAT~

It was the notes which had been the breaking point. The worst and the best thing to happen.

Killian had found them. He had shouted, hit her, blamed her for things; for him being stuck in the town, for her ruining him, him not being somewhere sailing through the realms, he was no longer a pirate. And she apologise, through the hits, through the blames, the name calling.

But then he said something which was like ice water through her veins, she stopped apologising, she was still.

“Talk to them again, and I’ll kill them.” He threatened. “It wouldn’t be the first 'Charming’ I’ve killed.”

He hadn’t realised that that threat was enough to wake her up, he just left her bloody and bruised on the floor, while he went out again.

But Emma dragged herself up despite the pain. She threw together a bag, clothes she had had before she had got together with him, there were plenty, she remembered they had only been together since after Neal was born about nine months ago.

“A whirl wind romance.” Emma snorted to herself in the too big house, her first joke in months, it brought a sardonic smile to her face which was miles better than the empty scared smile. “True love.” She said just as sarcastically. She wanted to cry, but it would hurt too much, and she didn’t have much time.

She grabbed some photographs, none with him in them, her box of memories, the torn up notes from her parents. Her baby blanket.

She rooted through his drawers until she found the keys to her bug hidden in his sock drawer. She raced to the garage, ignoring the pain in her ribs and the rest of her body, she didn’t bother to shut the front door as she left the house. It had been shut for far too long.

~OUAT~

Across town on the outskirts, David and Snow sat cuddled together on the couch in their farmhouse, they weren’t talking or watching the screen of the television they both had their eyes on the picture of Emma. They had both been trying not to freak the other out, but neither were happy or comfortable with not having seen her in so long, despite Killian’s assurances that she was just sick or was busy working at the station. But they were at a loss as to what to do next.

David was about to open his mouth, to finally raise his concerns with his wife about their daughter, to admit there was something more going on when there was a knock at the door. David sighed as Snow left his arms and headed to answer the door, he’s speak to her when she was back. He glanced at the clock as he heard the door opened, he frowned, it was far too late for just normal visitors unless something was wrong. He got up from the couch and headed to the entrance hall.

His mouth fell open. “Emma.” He breathed out. At first it was because of just seeing her after so long, it was just so unbelievable. By the time he composed himself enough to notice the state she was in Snow was pulling her into the house and shutting the door shut behind her.

“Emma.” Snow’s hands went to Emma’s cheeks, though she made sure to be gentle. Her daughter looked completely different than she had the last time she had seen her, she knew what the injuries Emma looked to be from, but she hoped she was wrong for Emma’s sake. “Emma, baby, can you tell me what happened?”

Emma’s breath shuddered in her throat. She shook her head a little.

Emma’s right eye had obviously been punched it was already a deep purple and swollen the white of it was bloodshot, her nose was bloody but luckily not broken, and her lip was busted open and bleeding. Her bones looked almost skeletal as though she hadn’t had a good meal since the last her parents had seen her (which she hadn’t), he skin almost unnaturally pale (more suited to her mother’s famous fairy tale looks than her own), there were bags under her un-swollen eye, she looked more like a bad Halloween costume than the Emma Swan they knew and loved.

When she spoke, her voice cracked, as though she hadn’t spoken in weeks. “Can I stay with you guys for a little while?”

She didn’t really need to ask, she had a key to their place, and her own room perfectly decorated to her tastes. Her taste which was so different than the style she had recently adopted, like the clothes she was currently wrapped in, all bar her armour of her red leather jacket. She felt like she was being buried alive in them.

Tears rolled down from Snow’s cheeks, Emma’s reaction told her all she needed it to, the pirate had done this. “Of course you can.” She promised. “For as long as you need or want to.”

David stepped forward toward Emma, like his wife’s, his face was streaked with tears. Also like her he was full of anger, but when he spoke to Emma he spoke softly, he didn’t want to scare her. “Emma, where is he?”

Emma had been pretty expressionless, as though in shock, she kind of was. But David’s word’s had made her eyes grow wide, her face full of fear and worry. “No, dad, no please. Please don’t go, please just stay with me.” She wasn’t afraid of Killian’s threat to her parents, she knew they could easily fight him and win especially if he was drunk, she just wanted, needed, her parents to stay with her.

David held his hands up in a surrendering gesture. His voice stayed soft and calm as though talking to a spooked animal on the farm, or a scared child, more the latter than the former. “Okay, it’s okay, Em. I promise I’m not leaving you.” He watched her analyse his face to see if he was telling the truth, he hadn’t see her do that in so long, it was just as heart breaking as her physical injuries.

Emma slowly nodded her head, she wasn’t sure what to do next, she hadn’t thought this far when she had been racing to escape.

David and Snow led her into the living room, they had one of their silent eye conversations as they did so. They knew they had to find out what injuries Emma had, they’d most probably have to take her to the hospital to get her checked out as well, so they’d have to get Neal a sitter but that should be fairly easy. Not to mention getting Hook off of the street and preferable out of the town too.

“Em, I’m going to ring Leroy and Regina about getting,” he didn’t want to say his name and upset her, “the pirate away. Your mom’s gonna help you take a bath because I don’t think you’re going to be able to do it by yourself, then me, you, and your mother and going to decide what needs to be done next, okay?”

Emma nodded her head, him describing the actions which were going to happen helped ease her anxiety at least a little. She shakily undid her jacket and took it off, she was with her parents, she was safe, she didn’t need the armour.

Snow gasped when Emma took off her jacket and David found the room lacking air, so he couldn’t even do that. There was a huge cut down Emma’s bruised arm, as though done by a knife, or a hook.

Emma noticed what they were staring at. “That was an accident,” she tried to tell them, “he forgot the hook was on that hand.” She parroted his excuse he had delivered with flowers the next day, after a night spent in a bar, or with some other girl. He had always been good at the apologising, the gestures to make her think he was sorry and loved her, but none of those had appeared in the recent weeks, he probably realised he didn’t have to do it anymore.

They were looking at her like something had broke inside her. He had warned her about that, that they wouldn’t want some broken adult, they had an actual child who needed them not some failure of a 'saviour’. She remembered the way he had spit that word.

“No, baby, it wasn’t an accident.” Snow’s voice was kind yet firm. “And it wasn’t your fault. It’s okay, it’s all over now, he’s never going to hurt you again.”

Suddenly two pairs of arms were around her. Her parents holding her close to them, holding her together, yet gentle not to hurt her further, not before they figured out the extent of her injuries.

Her dad’s hand came up to cradle the back of her head, as it always did.

She finally broke down.

#Fanfiction #anti hook fanfic #anti captain swan #anti hook #emma swan #snowing #ff #emma swan deserves better

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sprnklersplashes · 7 years

Text

You’ll Be In My Heart.

Canon divergence for 6x17. David goes through the portal to little Emma. Daddy Charming.

“Charming, no!” was the last thing he heard before the garbled noises of the portal surrounded him. He felt as though he’d been propelled through the water at top speed. All the air rushed out of his lungs and his throat burned as he fought to breathe.

It ended as quickly as it had began. He felt his hands and knees collide with rough wood. He could just make out a muffled, scared voice over the pounding of his heart in his ears but he couldn’t answer. Not until he got his breath back. When he did, he slowly raised his head to face the tiny girl sitting wide eyed on the bed, headphones discarded. His mouth fell open. She was more beautiful than she had looked from the other side. Bright golden hair, sparkling green eyes with the hope slowly inching out of them,a tiny button nose. She looked like the princess she was, the princess she should have grown up to be. For a moment, he saw a tiara on her golden locks, her dressed in a white ballgown and slippers. It was a fleeting image but one he’d save forever.

Right now, she was backing against the wall, staring at him with her jaw practically on the floor. He couldn’t blame her. A strange man appears in a little girl’s bedroom after falling through the wall. She’s bound to be frightened. When she opened her mouth to scream, he snapped into action.

“Don’t, please,” he begged. “Hear me out, Emma.” He took a tentative step towards her and lowered his voice, mindful of the others living here. “Just five minutes. That’s all I need.”

“Who are you?” she asked, fear filling her voice. “How did you come through my wall?”

“Magic,” David panted, smiling. Emma frowned, clearly not believing him.

“No such thing,” she spat.

“Of course there is,” he sighed. “How do you think Santa Claus comes through the chimney, or how the Easter Bunny gives you those eggs?”

“There is no Santa Claus,” she replied, rolling her eyes and looking just slightly like her adult self. David’s heart broke at his this little girl not having that innocence all children had. “No Easter Bunny either.”

“Okay. Okay but I did use magic. How else would you explain me coming in through the wall?” It was clear as day on her face that Emma didn’t have an answer. “Emma, please believe me.”

“Okay,” she said reluctantly, nodding a fraction. “Let’s say you did use magic. Who are you? And how do you know my name?”

“Because I chose it.” Tears stung his eyes now, his voice thick with emotion. He took a few seconds to compose himself as Emma looked up at him, the answer half worked out in her mind. Emma, the name he chose one night when Snow was 6 or 7 months along and they had lounged by the fire, his hand tracing over his wife’s rounded belly. The name ‘Emma’ had fallen from his lips. She looked like an Emma. He couldn’t imagine her having any other name.

“Do you….. know my parents?” Emma whispered. David gave a soft chuckle. He went to ease himself down on her bed but stopped as Emma tensed.

“Emma.” Tears made their way down his face. “I’m your dad.”

The word 'dad’ hung between them as the room fell silent. All he could hear was Emma’s deep breaths as she processed it. She looked at him, searching for something of her in him.

“Emma, please,” he pleaded.

Her face screwed up, her chin wobbled. She went to wipe her eyes with her sleeve only to have him take a hankie out of his pocket and do it for her. Her tiny soft hand grasped his rough one, bitten fingernails digging into his skin. Not that he minded. She cried silently, no wails or moans. After a while he moved onto the bed beside her and she didn’t push him away. His fingers tangled in her hair.

“Why did you give me up?” she asked, her voice like the calm before the storm.

“It’s complicated."He didn’t need to look at her to see the thunderous look on her face. "I mean really complicated.”

“Was I an accident? A teenage pregnancy? Was it non consensual?” she asked in a matter of fact voice. He wanted to know when and where she’d learned those big words she shouldn’t have known. “It’s okay if I was an accident.” Her voice was too bitter for a child to have.

“No, no, no. Emma you have it all wrong.” He pulled away to look into her swollen eyes, brushing her hair behind her ears. Even her ears were perfect, he thought. “Emma, we wanted to keep you. So much, so damn much. But….” How was he going to explain the Dark Curse to a child?

“Was it my grandparents? Did they make you do it?”

“Sort of,” he answered. “Emma, I’m going to tell you something crazy, okay? You know how I said I came here with magic?” Emma nodded, again processing, the cogs in her mind turning.

“Are you a wizard?” He chuckled.

“No, Emma. I’m a prince. Well, technically a King.” Emma nodded. Maybe after the magic reveal, telling her about the royalty wasn’t so bad.

“So does that make me a…..”

“Princess, yes,” he finished. She was grinning.

“I knew it,” she told him. “I just knew it. It was one of my……” Her voice trailed off. “My theories.”

“Oh there’s theories?” he asked. Emma nodded, her face turning pink.

“Yeah. I mean I had thought that….. um, maybe I was royalty and you were at war or something and-” She stopped talking.

“You weren’t too far off, kid,” he told her. “Our Kingdom, called Misthaven.”

“Is it in Europe?” she asked. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s not exactly in….this world.” Emma’s eyes grew wide.

“Am I an alien?”

“No, no,” he chuckled. “Definitely not.” He could have sworn he saw her mutter 'Thank God’. “It’s um, I guess you would call it a different dimension.”

“A different dimension where we have magic.”

“Exactly. And, on the day I married your mother, our wedding was crashed by her step mother. She vowed to destroy our happiness. So she worked and on the day you were born, she cast a terrible curse on our kingdom. She ripped us all out of Misthaven and sent us to this realm. And now they’re all trapped there, they don’t remember who they are.”

“That’s awful,” Emma muttered. “But what does that have to do with-”

“A friend of ours, Gepetto-”

“The guy from Pinocchio?” Emma asked.

“Yes, him. He made a magic wardrobe that could take your mother and escape the curse. But unfortunately, you came a bit early. And…..” He shuddered, remembering that night as Emma’s cries rang throughout the castle, just before their lives were ripped from them. “We had to send you through alone.” He couldn’t read Emma’s face. Her hands clasped and unclasped in her lap. “Emma we never wanted to give you up. Ever.” Instinct took over and he pulled her into his lap, pressing his cheek to her hair. “We had so many plans for you.”

“Like what?” Her voice was so timid.

“Like throwing a huge ball every year on your birthday.”

“With a chocolate fountain?” He gave a sad laugh.

“Whatever your heart desired. And giving you a whole stable full of ponies. And getting you custom made armour and teaching you to sword fight.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “And holding you like this every single time you had a nightmare.” He wondered how many times she had woken up in the middle of the night with no one to hold her.

It hit him how much he missed it. He had pushed it down for so long now but it came flooding over him. He missed it all-every loose tooth and birthday and temper tantrum and common cold and bedtime story. Her first steps, first laugh, first everything. He never got to see it.

He’d do anything to have it again.

Emma sat pressed against his chest, fingers tangling in his jacket.

“Emma, are you okay?”

“No,” she answered. He felt her tiny shoulders shaking. “I’m sorry I came early.”

“It’s not your fault,” he reassured her. “It’s your grandmother’s for casting this damn curse.”

“The curse!” Emma jumped up, eyes wide. Even with wet cheeks and puffy eyes, she held a fierce determination not unlike her mothers. “We still have to save them, right?”

“Yes. Um, when you were coming we were told you would be the Savior.” Emma nodded and picked up a dusty pink coat from the floor. “What are you doing?”

“We have a curse to break.” She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up. “Come on, let’s go right now.”

“Emma we can’t-”

“Sure we can,” Emma said. “You’re a prince, you have an army, right? And if I’m the Savior I must have magic or special powers. We can go up to my grandma and-”

“Emma you have to wait.” Emma frowned at him. “The curse can only be broken when you turn 28. And then you’ll come find us.”

“Why?” Her little jaw was set and there was a fire in her eyes and he saw the woman she would soon grow up to become.

“Because that’s the way the curse was built. Because that’s how we were told it had to happen.”

“Says who?” “The man who made the curse.” Charming cast a fearful glance at the door. “He said we have to wait until you’re 28. Then you’ll come save us.”

“So I can’t save them now?”

“You’re not ready, sweetheart.”

“I can’t be with you now?” She started crying again. He pulled her into his arms and let her make a damp patch on his shoulder.

“I wish you could baby girl,” he sighed. “More than anything.” He heard her mutter 'not fair’ against his jacket. “You’re going to be a hero, Emma. The greatest hero there ever was or ever could be.”

“I don’t want to be a hero,” she whispered. “I just want you and my mom.”

It took everything Charming had not to break down right there. She was so innocent. She never deserved any of this. She hadn’t asked to be a hero. “We want you too. More than anything else in the whole world.” He pulled away from her and grasped her hands, rubbing small circles on her wrists. “But we have to put our Kingdom first.”

“That’s what heroes do, right.” She managed a sad smile.

“Emma?” They were interrupted by a voice calling from the landing. Emma ushered Charming behind her wardrobe before opening the door, frantically wiping her eyes.

“Uh-huh?”

“Who are you talking to up there?”

“My dad.” Her tone was so venemous. It simultaneously surprised Charming and hurt him.

“Okay, kid.” Charming heard loud, cruel laughs from downstairs. “Well, lights out.”

“I know.” The door clicked shut and he crept out from his hiding place. “I have to go to bed now.”

“I understand. Do you have anyone to tuck you in?” Emma shook her head. He watched her slip out of her clothes and into a t shirt slightly too big for her and blue pajama bottoms. “Come here, you.” He tucked the blanket around her and stroked her hair. Before he could stop himself, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. A tear fell onto the pillow. “You’ll be okay.”

“I know,” she yawned. “I know.”

“You want a bedtime story? Or are you too old?” She laughed softly.

“Not too old yet.” She clutched her baby blanket-the same one he’d seen Granny work tirelessly on just for her-and pulled it over her nose. He smiled and traced the wool softly.

“Once upon a time, a dashingly good looking prince was travelling with his fiancée to her Kingdom. On the way there…..”

“….When the Prince saw his beloved Snow White in the glass coffin, he knew all that was left to do was say goodbye…..”

“Is the Prince in this story you?” she asked in a low voice, eyes closed.

“Yeah it is.”

“And is my mom Snow White?”

“Yep.” She nodded.

“Cool."

He finished his story with his and Snow’s wedding day. He didn’t want to go further than that.

"Does this story have a happy ending?” Emma asked, almost asleep.

“It does. It just hasn’t happened yet.” Emma didn’t respond.

Charming kissed her cheek, then her forehead, then her nose.

“I love you. I love you so so much. Please don’t forget that.” Shaking, he got up and walked back towards the wall, which shimmered upon his touch.

He looked back at his daughter. She shifted slightly in her sleep, burying herself in her pillow. She looked so alone.

With a heavy heart, he went through the portal.

#charming family ff #daddy charming ff #emma swan #david nolan #emma x charming #ouat spoilers #kind of?#ouat

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jeichanhaka · 6 years

Text

If Any Would Avenge: Six

Chapter 01|| Chapter 02|| Chapter 03|| Chapter 04|| Chaper 05|| Chapter 06|| Chapter 07|| Chapter 08|| Chapter 09|| Chapter 10|| Chapters 11+||

Chapter Six: Blood Price

Gentle eyes stared wistfully around the room, at the bed and dresser, the toy chest, and the little night light beside the bed, its soft glow faint. On the nightstand next to it were a few toddler books, filled with brightly colored pictures and large lettering, some of it added by a mischievous child’s hand.

Belle approached her son’s bed and picked up the top book, sitting down on the mattress. She ran her fingers over the cover, and then the name handwritten on the inside front cover. The lettering was large and blocky, parts of it more like scribbles than characters. Her chin wrinkled up and trembled, her son’s handwriting staring up at her.

She remembered when he did that, shortly after his second birthday. She’d gotten Gideon that book as a present and he had insisted in trying to write his name in it. He’d managed to write the first two letters of his name, large but legibly, the rest were more scribbly. When she saw what he’d done, she hadn’t known whether to chastise or praise him. Chastise him for writing in a book. Praise him for his ability to write at least part of his name.

Tears streaming down her face, Belle shut the book and held it to her chest. Hugging it close like the son she could no longer hold. Her darling little boy, once lost then regained, now lost again - this time forever. Or at least until death reunited them. Her chest ached and she held the book tighter, listening to the silence of the house. After a full day of taking care of her rambunctious son, teaching him and keeping him from getting hurt while playing, she’d often enjoyed the moments of quiet when he slept. Wished for them during the most hectic of days, so she could curl up and relax with a book.

“No.” Belle sobbed and gasped, the silence suffocating. She shut her eyes tighter, trying to ignore the gnawing emptiness of the house. “This can’t be real. It has to be a nightmare. Or a trick. My son can’t….” Her lips trembled, the image of her son’s broken body flashing torturously behind her eyelids. She gasped and nearly choked as her throat tightened, bile bubbling in her stomach. Running from the room, she barely made it to the bathroom door before retching.

She retched and coughed and sobbed, collapsing against the door frame. Her body shaking, she slid to the floor, her son’s book still in her hand. The quietude of her surroundings - the overbearing solitude - sinking into her marrow. She was alone. Her father was off to pummel Killian for revenge. Her husband was off fixing something - knowing him, he’d probably cast some spell at the hospital before she’d stopped him. Despite the brevity in her husband’s promise, she hadn’t missed the adverb he’d tacked on. Further. Rumple had added that word to his promise to not hurt Killian or Emma or their child.

“Oh god.” Belle covered her mouth, dry heaving at the thought that’d occurred to her. Had her husband, in his grief-fueled anger, done something to Emma’s child? Is that what he needed to fix? The reason he wasn’t here beside her, grieving with her, was it because he’d done something much more horrendous than she’d ever believed he was capable? She shivered and crossed her arms over her abdomen, before bringing her knees up. Like a petite ball, she huddled against the door frame, not wanting to think any more. Or feel. Her heart and lungs burning.

His narrowed, brown eyes glared coldly through the glass wall surrounding the neonatal ICU, taking in the sight of Emma and Killian fussing over their daughter. The newborn healthy and hearty after being given the aging potion. Seeing the happiness on their faces, especially the pirate’s, Gold had to fight the urge to break something. His fist clenched as he imagined crushing Killian’s heart - he could still do it, right in front of the pirate’s wife and daughter.

“Don’t even think about it.” Warned Regina, standing only a few feet from the Dark One, her arms crossed. “I may not be able to banish you from Storybrooke because of the deal, but that doesn’t mean I can’t imprison you. Besides, you made Belle a promise, that you wouldn’t hurt….”

“I know what I said. I don’t need you reminding me.” Gold grumbled, turning towards the raven-haired mayor. His lips twitched catching the suspicion in Regina’s eyes. “You don’t trust me.”

Regina gave a cold, scoffing laugh. “With your appetite for vengeance, and your and Hook’s history, I don’t believe for a moment that you won’t find some means of hurting him.”

“I made a promise. I won’t hurt him.” Gold drawled, emphasizing the first-person pronoun in his second sentence. He smirked coldly and leered at Regina, his gold tooth visible. “Belle’s father, on the other hand, hasn’t made such a promise. He shouldn’t be too much longer getting here.”

“Maurice is on his way to hurt Killian?” Snow White asked, having just come back from the vending machines in the waiting room. After learning that their granddaughter was out of danger, she and David had discussed who would go home and watch Neal and who would stay at the hospital. At first they’d leaned towards David staying, but when they’d learned that Killian had been drunk while driving, which led to the accident that killed Gideon, David’s first response was a desire to deck their son-in-law. She’d convinced him not to, at least not tonight, and to instead go home with young Neal.

“Yeah. He sped off in his van after hearing what happened.” Gold replied, a cold smirk on his face as he considered staying and watching Maurice pummel Killian. It wouldn’t be as satisfying as crushing the pirate’s heart, but it would be enjoyable. Enjoyable enough that Gold wondered if he should just use magic to teleport Maurice to the hospital rather than simply wait for the younger man to arrive in his van.

“Wait...you mean Belle is alone right now?” Snow asked, her eyes wide. The concern she’d had for her son-in-law eclipsed by concern for a fellow mother. “She shouldn’t be alone now. You should go to her.”

Gold stiffened, glowering at Snow White, suspicious and angry at the woman’s concern for his wife. Although Snow was kind and good, she was Killian’s mother-in-law and Gold couldn’t bear any kindness or concern from that pirate’s family. Whether that family was by blood or marriage.

She did have a point though.

With a final glance towards Emma and Killian fawning over their daughter, a glance filled with envy, enmity, and pain, Gold teleported away. Disappearing in a dark cloud of magic.

His hands no longer shaking and his cheeks no longer pallid in horror, Maurice picked up his cell phone from between the driver and passenger seats. Dread continued to gnaw at his stomach, the voicemail echoing in his ears, filling them with its damning words.

‘....the blood price is paid...but that...it couldn’t have meant…..’ Maurice shivered, trying to stifle the gnawing dread roiling in the pit of his stomach. He took in a deep breath, shuddery and without an hint of calm. His hands shook as he brought the phone back to his ear and replayed the voicemail.

-“Oh, leave a message? Why sure, like old times.” A brusque voice, tinged with an undercurrent of chilling amusement, spoke. “The blood price you owed has been paid, your majesty. Your debt with Nemesis is cleared.”-

“Oh god.” Maurice choked, wiping his eyes as he stopped the voicemail. Its meaning clear, though he fought against understanding it. Every fiber of his will fought against accepting what his gnawing gut screamed at him, what the blood price in the voicemail meant.

A death to pay for a death.

-“We lost members of our...family. It’s only fair you lose some of yours.”-

“No….” Nausea filled Maurice’s stomach, his heart thumping and feeling as though it was being rent by a thousand knives. The memory from so many years ago popped unbidden into his thoughts, breaking free of the mental alcove filled with all the decisions he’d ever regretted. “It had to be an accident. It had to. A drunken accident caused by that pirate, not….”

Even as he mumbled those words, trying to reassure himself, Maurice slumped back in his seat, tears streaming down his face. He remained like that a few more moments before composing himself, trying to get his racing heart to relax and his trembling to lessen.

‘I should go to the hospital and see….’ A pause, then a shuddering breath. ‘Gold’s with Belle, he’ll make sure she’s all right….’ Maurice gripped the steering wheel tightly, thinking about his daughter and how distraught she must be. He swore. “Of course she won’t be all right. How could she?”

Battling against his own despair, Maurice wiped the rest of his tears away and pulled away from the curb. Instead of continuing on towards the hospital, he turned onto the street leading back to Gold’s and Belle’s house.

The first thing Gold noticed upon returning home was the quiet saturating the house. More quiet than he’d grown used to since Gideon was born. Unlike Belle who enjoyed the calm silence as much as he did, their son had loved making as much noise as possible. Running around and getting into everything since the moment he started crawling. Hearing the toddler running around when he’d return home, had always brought a smile to Gold’s face. It reminded him of Baelfire as a child, and made him really feel like he’d gotten his happy ending.

‘Damn it.’ He staggered, the quiet of the house hitting him. Blinking back the tears and taking a steadying breath, Gold glanced around him, having teleported himself just outside the master bedroom. He slowly opened the door, wondering if his wife had decided to try to get some rest. “Belle?”

His brown eyes swept over the room, noting it was undisturbed from when he’d left for the hospital. Everything in its place, aside from the blanket, which was ruffled and thrown to one side of the bed. Not surprising, considering Belle had woken from her sedative-induced sleep before he left, and neither of them were currently concerned about tidiness.

“...Rumple?” His wife’s voice called out from down the hall, the sound so meek and broken. It cut Gold’s heart just hearing it. He swiftly headed towards it, mentally berating himself for leaving in the first place. Though if he hadn’t gone back to the hospital….

“Belle, I’m here. I’m home.” Gold called out, passing by the broken vase and towards the back of the house. His stomach knotted as he reached Gideon’s bedroom, wondering if his wife was in there, grieving. A sob pulled his attention from the room, and towards the turn in the hall leading to the bathroom. His eyes widened. “Belle!”

Seeing his wife curled up against the bathroom door frame, her cheeks drenched enough that her chestnut brown locks clung to them, he felt his heart cleave. He knelt beside her, not worrying about the mess on the floor - vomit stains on his clothes were the least of his concerns. His brown eyes softened beneath oblique eyebrows when he noticed the toddler book in Belle’s hand, and he tried to smile a reassuring smile as he embraced her.

“Belle, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you here alone.” He kissed her forehead and pulled her closer, brushing away the strands of hair clinging to her cheeks. Cupping her face with his hands, he smiled sadly down at her, not knowing what else to say.

“Rum...ple….” Belle breathed, her eyelids fluttering as she gazed up at her husband with glazed eyes. Alarm filled her husband’s eyes, his lips parting to speak - it was then that he noticed what Belle held in her other hand. A pill vial, nearly empty. The same one containing the magic-imbued sedative he’d given her earlier. Only, it should’ve been nearly full.

“No no no. What have you done?! Belle!” Gasped Gold, panic pulsing through his body, filling every cell. His heart raced, his chest burning as a sensation akin to having all the air in his lungs sucked out engulfed him. For a moment his mind was blank, forgetting about magic, about everything except the weight of his wife’s body in his arms.

Coming to his senses, he waved a trembling hand over Belle, casting a healing spell. Or trying to. It worked for a few seconds, faltered, then worked, before faltering again.

“...come on!” He growled, scowling at his hand. Belle was still breathing, though faintly, and her heartbeat was weak, but still there. That wasn’t the problem. The issue was emotion - magic was controlled by emotion, and the tumult of grief, pain, dread, and worry whirling inside him overwhelmed his concentration. That didn’t completely impede his magic - he was the the Dark One after all - but it did affect his control. And that simply added to tumult inside him. If in his effort to heal Belle, he ended up hurting her…the thought alone made him falter. “...fuck!”

‘Concentrate.’ He bit down on his lip, until the coppery taste of blood hit his tongue. He did the same thing with his hand, clenching his fist tight until his nails drew blood. The physical pain gave him a focal point, a way to ignore the other emotions raging within him. Calmer now, he slowly waved his hand over Belle again, the healing spell much more steady. He sighed with relief when he heard his wife’s breathing grow steadier and sensed her heartbeat strengthen.

“...if I lost you, Belle, the same day as Gideon….” Gold flinched, the image of his two-year-old son’s body filling his thoughts. Pulling his hand back, he covered his eyes, trying to chase away the image. Glowering through his fingers at the pill vial, he felt bitterness spread through his veins, and with a flourish of his fingers he disintegrated it.

“....Rumple…?” Belle’s eyes flickered open, staring groggily at her husband for a few seconds before shutting again. Her head placed against Gold’s chest, she slept - the result of her husband quickly casting a sleeping spell as he stood up with her in his arms. Without a word he brought her to the master bedroom and laid her down to rest, tucking her in just as quietly.

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worldremark4 · 7 years

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Top 3 of the world's most dangerous Children's toys of 2017

Top 3 of the world's most dangerous Children's toys of 2017.:hello friends pretend your friends and people who have just stumbled across this article this is my favorite time of day because I get to record you another most amazing top 3 yes now for you guys you might be new to this world remark is where we take crazy lists of weird and wonderful top 3 things packaged them up and deliver them to you in a article so if that sounds like your kind of thing be sure to hit that follow button and today we are going to be covering.

Top 3 of The World's Most Children's Kids Toys of 2017.

Top 3 of the world's most dangerous Children's toys of 2017 ever made Oh so guys first up before we get started on our top 3 today I want to do something here you what was your favorite toy when you were growing up and why let me know in the comments below so today's top 3 is Top 3 of the world's most dangerous Children's toys of 2017 ever made now a little fact for you guys I actually used to work as a Prince in the world's biggest toy store so you can trust in me I am a toy expert delivering you this news essentially We'll talk about where either dangerous Children's toys come in the top 3 list.

3.The Kite Tube.

our Top 3 of the world's most dangerous Children's toys of 2017 ever made I have to warn you that the top three are occupied by toys that have known to kill so in at number 3.

we have the kite tube the kite tube was released in 2006 and was basically so so dangerous that it had to be recalled the kite 2 biz basically a diggy that you attach to a boat this can be sat in and works like a cross between a water board and a para glide as the boat goes faster the kite goes up now unfortunately those in the kites aren't properly secured and as the speedboat goes forward the kite has the potentiality to reach up to 65 feet in the air this has led to many many kids falling out and severely injuring themselves. There are some absolutely insane article that been posted on world remark of kite tube accidents and I've got to say you know this is really really scary in its year of release the kite tube reportedly caused 39 injuries and three deaths getting.

2.Water Yo-Yo.

Let's discuss the second most dangerous toys of the top 3 of this article in 2017's World's Most Dangerous Children's Toys. dangerous here at number two with the water yo yo now I think yo-yo are dangerous enough I for one managed to smash a light bulb in my mum's house whilst using a yo-yo When I was a child but they absolutely multiply in danger when you bring a water yo-yo on the situation made from a stretchy plastic.

They can easily get caught around children's necks now six-year-old justice Morin was one of the many children almost killed by a water yo-yo justice got the cord of a yo-yo ball wrapped around his neck six times his mum said his eyes were rolling in the back of his head he was foaming at the mouth his legs were jumping up and down now he spent the night in a hospital getting treatment for near strangulation in 2007 alone.

There were almost 300 reports of mild strangulation from these water yo-yo in some scenarios this stretchy plastic almost caused suffocation there is even a website dedicated to the dangers of water yo-yo and that is danger of water yo-yo luckily these are now banned from stores so guys we have reached that point.

1.jarts.

our world remark where we are our top 3 of the world's most dangerous children's toys in 2017, which is finally known to shoot at number one. nearing the number one so let's recap on what we had in our top 3 most dangerous children's toys ever made.

we've had a child eating doll a devil sky dancer fire guns slip and slides trampolines chemical sets with corrosives killer kite tubes strangling water yo-yo but what could possibly be so dangerous it is in our number one. javelins you know javelins use dust like a medieval weapon you throw them they spear people die yeah so what genius came up with the garden dart aka the jart now the jot are essentially funky covered javelins marketed at kids and families the jart has been directly responsible for over 7,000 injuries and three deaths in 1987 Michelle Snow was accidentally killed by her brother when he threw a jar too far and it pierced her skull her father David was so enraged that he tried to get them fans instead of banning them warnings were placed on the box but this did not help in 1988 when an 11-year old girl.

Texas was so badly injured by a jart that she went into a coma they were finally taken off the shelf so guys some of these have been extremely dangerous I really hate sin to add that you should never play with them if you see them that was our Top 3 of the world's most dangerous Children's toys of 2017 ever made did I leave.

anything out let me know in the comments below also what would you like to see next up on world remark gate I'm having a great time coming I hope you guys are too be sure to like share and follow I'll see you next time.

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othersportsnews-blog · 7 years

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The 24 hrs that outlined Ivan Rodriguez's Hall of Fame vocation - SweetSpot

New Post has been published on https://othersportsnews.com/the-24-hrs-that-outlined-ivan-rodriguezs-hall-of-fame-vocation-sweetspot/

The 24 hrs that outlined Ivan Rodriguez's Hall of Fame vocation - SweetSpot

Ahead of there was Steve Bartman, a Countrywide League Championship Sequence MVP and Josh Beckett clinching a Environment Sequence championship on 3 days’ relaxation, there was the most effective 24 hrs of Ivan Rodriguez‘s Hall of Fame baseball vocation, a single of the most remarkable series of times for a participant in the record of the sport.

Games 3 and four of the 2003 NL Division Sequence amongst Rodriguez’s Florida Marlins and the San Francisco Giants will kind the centerpiece of Rodriguez’s Cooperstown highlight reel.

Placing the scene

Rodriguez strike .314 with 19 residence operates with the Texas Rangers in 2002, but it was his third consecutive period of enjoying 111 game titles or much less owing to personal injury.

* Gained only Environment Sequence * NLCS MVP (10 RBIs) * Wander-off strike in NLDS Match 3 vs. Giants * Sequence-ending tag-out in Match four

When Rodriguez strike absolutely free agency, the exact same suitors who have been ready to dedicate four several years or far more to Jim Thome, Cliff Floyd, Edgardo Alfonzo and David Bell have been not knocking on Rodriguez’s door. Arrive January, Rodriguez, 31, was still waiting around to be signed.

In the meantime, the Marlins have been locked into a price range in the mid-$thirty million vary, information to purchase youthful expertise these as centre fielder Juan Pierre and commencing pitcher Mark Redman via trade in an work to strengthen a group that went 79-eighty three the earlier period under Jeff Torborg.

In eyeballing the remaining absolutely free brokers just after the new 12 months, members of the Marlins’ front office environment recognized Rodriguez was still accessible. The Marlins still needed a catcher after investing Charles Johnson to the Colorado Rockies to get Pierre. The only catchers on their roster have been Mike Redmond and Ramon Castro.

“We felt [Rodriguez] was the crowning piece who could aid guide the group, guide a youthful pitching team to wherever we wished to go,” then-general supervisor Larry Beinfest claimed.

Right after speaking with other members of the front office environment, Beinfest went to owner Jeffrey Loria to question for “special money” in the occasion he could coax Rodriguez into a a single-12 months deal.

It turned out that Rodriguez, who lived in Miami Seashore at the time, was persuadable. He signed a a single-12 months, $10 million deal, selecting the Marlins in excess of the Baltimore Orioles. It was particular dollars for a particular participant. The $10 million was the greatest regular yearly benefit the Marlins had dedicated to any individual, and it accounted for far more than a single-fifth of their payroll.

“The purpose for me is to put the Florida Marlins into the playoffs,” Rodriguez claimed at his introductory information convention.

Claimed then-vice president of participant personnel Dan Jennings: “Now you appear at the group on paper and you say, ‘That’s a superior group.’”

But what was on paper did not translate to the diamond at the commencing of the 2003 period. The Marlins started sixteen-22 under Torborg, who was fired and changed with seventy two-12 months-previous Jack McKeon.

As a result of Might thirty Relaxation of Period BA .239 .323 OBP .341 .382 Slug pct .four hundred .506

“I do not know what the Marlins are undertaking,” Tim Kurkjian claimed on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight a couple times pursuing Torborg’s dismissal. It was a respectable stage, thinking about the group went 3-seven in its following 10 game titles. The Marlins have been 19-29, 11½ game titles guiding the Montreal Expos for the wild card.

“We knew we have been better than that,” claimed third baseman Mike Lowell, pointing out accidents to a few of pitchers and the shortly-to-occur presence of rookies Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis.

Rodriguez had gotten off to a slow get started, hitting .250 with a .774 OPS as a result of his initially 41 game titles. On Might 19, he went back to Puerto Rico to are inclined to his ailing father-in-regulation. He returned to aid the group to file a pair wins in excess of the Cincinnati Reds, but fouled a ball off his foot in the next game.

Rodriguez missed the following 3 game titles. McKeon claimed it was to give him time to get well, but many others familiar with the minute say Rodriguez was benched since he was in the clubhouse relatively than accessible to pinch-strike all through a single game.

“Jack despatched a rough-love message, and Pudge responded the suitable way,” Jennings claimed.

Claimed Beinfest: “They had a particular relationship after that.”

When Rodriguez arrived back, he was a different participant. He started a forty four-game tear in which he strike .387 with a 1.085 OPS and 41 RBIs. The Marlins went thirty-14 in all those forty four game titles, entered the wild-card race, got nearer Ugueth Urbina in a single deal and brought back outfielder Jeff Conine in one more, and stormed previous the relaxation of the league into the wild-card spot, clinching it in their 160th game of the period.

“He was the minor educate that could,” Jennings claimed of Rodriguez. “He was modest, but he performed more substantial than his stature. He had a knack for becoming clutch. He designed pitchers think they have been better than they have been that evening. He had a way of obtaining the most effective out of himself and the pitchers that he was top on any offered evening.”

Rodriguez had a reputation for becoming egocentric and was not viewed as the most likable teammate, but McKeon spoke of him with the greatest praise.

“He was the key to our achievements that 12 months. He was the chief of that club,” McKeon claimed. “When I took in excess of, every person was speaking about how he was likely downhill, damaging stuff. He was a exceptional chief, a person that managed the pitching team immensely. He was normally unselfish in doing the job with the Latin American players, normally encouraging in helping them, providing them tips. He was like a captain.”

The Marlins’s division-series opponents have been the defending league winner Giants, who won one hundred game titles in the frequent period, which includes 5 of six versus the ninety one-earn Marlins. The teams break up the initially two game titles in San Francisco, with the Marlins rallying from 3 operates down to earn Match 2.

Rodriguez had a strike in each individual of the initially two game titles, but there was nothing foreshadowing what his job would be in the following two.

Match 3: The strike

The series changed for the Marlins and Rodriguez in his initially at-bat in the initially inning of Match 3, on Oct. 3 at Professional Participant Stadium, versus Giants starter Kirk Rueter.

The Giants’ tactic versus Rodriguez was very well outlined. They have been likely to pitch him absent, absent, absent. Rueter executed that tactic for 3 pitches, with Rodriguez fouling off the latter two. On the following pitch, even so, Rueter arrived inside of and Rodriguez turned on it.

Kaboom.

“As shortly as [Rueter] arrived in, [Rodriguez] was prepared. He got the barrel to the ball and strike it out of the ballpark,” claimed then-ESPN baseball analyst, the late Tony Gwynn.

A large walk-off strike was just the commencing of a unforgettable postseason for Rodriguez. Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Photos

Rodriguez’s two-operate residence operate gave the Marlins an early guide, a single that held right up until the Giants got two operates back in the sixth inning. Every group had at least a single baserunner in the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th innings, but neither could rating. The Marlins missed a great probability to earn, leaving the bases loaded in the 10th versus Giants nearer Tim Worrell.

The Marlins would get one more option, but initially the Giants took a 3-2 guide in the leading of the eleventh on Edgardo Alfonzo‘s bloop one. It could have been worse, but Braden Looper got Jose Cruz Jr. and J.T. Snow out with the bases loaded to stop the inning. Don’t forget all those very last two names, since they’re important to the relaxation of the story.

Cruz became a more substantial portion instantly when he dropped Conine’s fly ball alongside the suitable-industry line to get started the base of the eleventh. Right after a walk to Alex Gonzalez, rookie third baseman Cabrera bunted the runners to next and third (of course, Miguel Cabrera genuinely bunted!). The Giants walked Pierre to pitch to Luis Castillo, who strike a grounder back to the mound. Worrell designed a terrific, bare-handed participate in, falling in excess of to industry the ball, and was equipped to get the forceout at residence.

* .375 BA with RISP (4th in NL) *.474 BA with RISP in postseason (9-for-19) * four-for-6 with RISP, 2 out in postseason

The bases have been loaded with two out and the Marlins down 3-2. The game arrived down to a matchup of Worrell as opposed to Rodriguez as ESPN’s Rick Sutcliffe put it, “Your most effective as opposed to our most effective.”

Rodriguez had been -for-four that period versus Worrell, which includes a pair of game-ending outs, so it appeared to be gain Giants. Again, the contact was to pitch Rodriguez absent. Of the initially four pitches Rodriguez noticed, 3 have been on the outside portion of the plate and a single was unhittable, in excess of his head. The outcome was a 1-2 count (with a single of the pitches fouled absent with two strikes). It was not tough to forecast wherever the following pitch would be.

Rodriguez had skilled all period to manage the pitch that was coming.

“I was normally amazed by how deliberate he was in his approach all through batting observe,” Lowell claimed. “Most fellas are seeking to strike the ball tough, where ever it is. Pudge, in his very last spherical, he’d continue to be suitable-centre, suitable-centre, suitable-centre. He [had] a disciplined get the job done ethic about the mechanics of his swing. He was centered on repeating the exact same route, in excess of and in excess of.”

Rodriguez swung at the following outside pitch and lined it to suitable, scoring equally the tying and profitable operates. Rodriguez concluded with all four RBIs in a four-3 victory to put the Marlins in advance 2-1 in the most effective-of-5 series.

“I was doing the job with [hitting mentor] Bill [Robinson] and [particular assistant] Tony Perez about remaining back,” Rodriguez claimed afterward, outlining his opposite-industry approach. “They’ve been helping me out all 12 months.”

It marked the next time in postseason record a participant recorded a walk-off strike with his group a single strike from dropping the game. The other was Kirk Gibson’s extraordinary residence operate in Match 1 of the 1988 Environment Sequence for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rodriguez’s strike may deficiency the mystique of Gibson’s blast, but the effect may have been just as large.

Match four: The participate in(s) at the plate

Speaking of effect …

Match four, the pursuing afternoon, was all about effect, and we can fast-forward to the base of the eighth inning, after the Marlins had blown a four-operate guide and have been tied with the Giants 5-5. With two out, Rodriguez singled and went to next when Derrek Lee was strike by a pitch from Felix Rodriguez (no relation).

Cabrera was not bunting this time. As a substitute, he singled to suitable. Ivan Rodriguez, not as fast as he was in his Rangers times, hustled all around third. He and the ball arrived in Giants catcher Yorvit Torrealba‘s confront at the exact same time. As Torrealba experimented with to catch the ball on the bounce, Rodriguez’s shoulder jostled it absent. The ball rolled considerably more than enough from Torrealba that Lee scored, as well. The Marlins led seven-5.

Rodriguez was safe at the plate in what would be the initially of two collisions for him that working day. Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Photos

What is interesting is how couple people today try to remember this participate in. When we brought it up with all those we interviewed, we had to verbally recreate it for practically all of them.

That’s since of what took place in the Giants’ 50 percent of the ninth.

Snow’s RBI one cut the guide to seven-6 and while Urbina got two outs, he seemed shaky. He strike Ray Durham with a 2- pitch to progress Snow to next.

The following batter was Giants centre fielder Jeffrey Hammonds. On the initially pitch, Hammonds singled to remaining Conine charged and fielded it on a single hop.

So now the game arrived down to Conine and Rodriguez as opposed to Snow, for whom the Giants would most likely have pinch-operate had their bench not been confined since they have been carrying 12 pitchers.

Conine’s toss residence was up the third-foundation line, but Rodriguez was prepared and waiting around for equally it and Snow, the son of previous NFL huge receiver Jack Snow.

J.T. Snow arrived in tough, but Rodriguez stood his ground. Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Photos

Snow barreled in excess of Rodriguez, like a operating back seeking to discover the stop zone in a purpose-line problem. Rodriguez stood his ground, then toppled in excess of, with the power of the collision driving him back a few of ft previous residence plate. Snow fell on leading of the plate as Rodriguez somersaulted in excess of, and Urbina noticed some thing that many others couldn’t: that Rodriguez had the ball in his suitable hand. He fell on leading of Rodriguez in an embrace all around the neck.

As Rodriguez went down — yet again — he raised his suitable arm, the ball firmly within his fingers. Snow was out. The series was in excess of. The Marlins players erupted out of the dugout and piled onto Urbina and Rodriguez.

“The most important issue about the collision is that [Rodriguez] had two palms on the ball, with the ball in his bare hand, so when there was make contact with designed, the ball would not occur traveling out of his glove,” Gwynn claimed.

This is the only time in postseason record a series finished with a participant becoming thrown out at the plate.

The aftermath

Probabilities are you try to remember Bartman, the fan who became infamous for enjoying a job in the Chicago Cubs blowing a 3-1 guide in the NLCS. And maybe you try to remember that it was Rodriguez, who had 10 RBIs, who was named series MVP. The Marlins then went on to earn the Environment Sequence, upsetting the New York Yankees in six game titles, with Rodriguez kissing residence plate all through the celebration.

But the minute McKeon most remembers from all those last two series was when he returned to the locker-room celebration after Match seven at Wrigley Discipline, it was Rodriguez top the group in a toast to their supervisor.

“Without Jack, we would not be listed here,” Rodriguez claimed.

The exact same could have been claimed about Rodriguez.

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